

to 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Mabch 31, 1910. 



W^ 





SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS i 



Pansies. 



March has proved a remarkably warm 

 month, utterly belying its character. 

 There has been an absence of cold, cut- 

 ting winds and, with a temperature much 

 above the normal, vegetation is much 

 more advanced than the average. It is, 

 of course, possible that April may have 

 some disagreeable climatic changes, but 

 with the increasing power of the sun the 

 danger from late freezings and thawings 

 is now much lessened. There is often a 

 hurry to remove winter mulchings with 

 the first burst of late winter heat. It 

 is always well to go slowly in doing this. 

 Pansies can now have their coverings 

 gradually removed. They have wintered 

 remarkably well, thanks to the heavy 

 coating of snow during January and 

 February, As soon as the mulch has 

 been removed, look over and firm any 

 plants which have been lifted by the 

 action of frost; also stir the ground be- 

 tween the plants and they will grow at 

 an accelerated rate. 



Plants in coldframes should have a 

 nice crop of flowers coming on them 

 now. Keep these well soaked with water. 

 All the members of the viola family love 

 cool and moist conditions at the root. 

 Many country florists do considerable 

 outside work in the way of planting and 

 caring for small estates. On such places 

 a good many pansies, myosotis, daisies 

 and other spring plants can be used up. 

 It is always a good plan to have a stock 

 of small handle baskets containing a doz- 

 en plants each. These invariably sell 

 well. As a general rule, mixed colors 

 please the majority, but some prefer 

 baskets of blue, white and other shades 

 separately. 



Hardy Biennials. 



Included in the category of hardy 

 biennials are some plants which in some 

 winters stand well outdoors, especially if 

 the snow remains on the ground continu- 

 ously; also some which are really peren- 

 nials, but are more frequently treated as 

 biennials. Among these plants are Can- 

 terbury bells, foxgloves, rockets, colum- 

 bines, honesty, Coreopsis grandiflora, 

 Gaillardia grandiflora, and in some locali- 

 ties Shasta daisies and Pyrethrum 

 roseum. In the more northerly states, 

 plants of these that were carried over 

 winter under sashes should now be 

 planted out. Those wintered outside 

 should have their mulch removed. In 

 some states all the foregoing plants will 

 winter outdoors, but they cannot be relied 

 upon in many sections. 



Gladioli. 



Just as soon as the ground is well 

 dried out — and it has been in that condi- 

 tion for the last ten days in March — 

 plant out a generous batch of gladioli. 

 They are among the most useful and best 

 selling of outdoor flowers, and to secure 

 a long season with them it is better to 

 plant the bulbs at intervals of a fort- 

 night until June, always keeping the 

 bulbs in a cold, dry cellar until they are 



wanted. Avoid using fresh barnyard 

 manure for gladioli. Land that was well 

 manured the previous year is all right, 

 and 1,000 pounds of some good commer- 

 cial fertilizer per acre will give good re- 

 turns. Plant the corms four inches deep. 

 Let the rows be suflBlciently wide to per- 

 mit easy cultivation. Large corms can go 

 two or three inches apart, small ones 

 closer. Do not be afraid of late frosts 

 hurting the corms. Have you never no- 

 ticed that they are practically hardy, and 

 in well drained land will come through a 

 quite severe winter unharmed if well 

 mulched? Sod land, plowed last fall, is 

 good for gladioli and they do specially 

 well in ground of a sandy nature. 



Dutch Bulbous Plants. 



It has been so warm in March that we 

 have been obliged to remove most of the 

 covering from beds of hyacinths, tulips 

 and narcissi. This is much earlier than 

 usual and has been done because the 

 continued warm weather was causing the 

 shoots to develop rapidly under the 

 mulch, and leaving it on longer would 

 mean many broken shoots. Some cover- 

 ing is still, however, left on the beds, just 

 enough to protect them somewhat in case 

 of sudden late cold snaps. Narcissi, as 

 the hardiest of the bulbs named, can well 

 dispense with all covering now, but it is 

 well not to be in too big a rush to fully 



expose the tulips and hyacinths. Just 

 as soon as mulch is taken off, scratch 

 the soil over, using a small hand fork. 



Pruning Hardy Roses. 



The early part of April is a good time 

 for pruning hardy roses. It is unwise to 

 do the work any sooner, as late frosts will 

 sometimes seriously blast the breaks on 

 the plants. In the case of hybrid perpet- 

 uals, such as Jacqueminot, Frau Karl 

 Druschki, Mme. G. Luizet, Mrs. John 

 Laing, etc., cut away all old and weak 

 wood. Leave four to six of the 

 strongest shoots to a plant. Never leave 

 more than a foot of the previous season '& 

 growth on even the strongest, and in the 

 case of weaker shoots half that length 

 will suffice. If you want strong 

 shoots and fine roses, prune hard. Nine 

 out of ten growers are afraid to head 

 back their plants sufficiently. If un- 

 convinced of the merits of severe prun- 

 ing, Cut back a few plants lightly under 

 the old method and cut the same number 

 back as advised. When flowers appear 

 you will speedily see which plan is the 

 one to follow in the future. 



Hybrid teas must be pruned much 

 more lightly than the hybrid perpetuals. 

 ^Ie^ely remove dead and weak wood and 

 shorten back the other shoots a few 

 inches. In pruning ramblers, the old 

 canes, which will yield few flowers, 

 should be cut out clean, as well as all 

 dead and weak wood. The shoots made 

 last summer are those which will yield 

 the finest trusses of flowers. Leave these 

 their entire length, except that it is well 

 to remove the thin or dead ends. Prune 

 such varieties as Austrian Copper, Harri- 

 son 's Yellow, Persian Yellow, multiflora 

 and the various rugosas as lightly as 

 you would hybrid teas. Among climb- 

 ing varieties which withstood 10 to 15 

 degrees below zero without injury dur- 

 ing the winter which has just closed, 



George Morrison. 



"(Presldentclec Baltimore Gardeners' and Florists' Club.) 



